“591 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES 2011/2012 (DSS) –

Committee were provided with the Director’s Annual Report 2011/2012, the summary report and an annual report by each Head of Service in the Directorate for the same period. The reports set out an appraisal of service effectiveness and the improvement priorities for the service.

As part of his statutory duties, the Director of Social Services was required by the Welsh Government to produce an annual report on the effectiveness of social care services in the Vale of Glamorgan and on plans for improvement. This provided an opportunity for the Director to provide people in the Vale with a rounded picture of social services – based on evidence such as what users and carers say, key performance indicators and measurements of progress against the overall coals of the Council.

These were important reports for the people of the Vale of Glamorgan, members of the Council and for the Council’s partners, both statutory and in other sectors.

The reports had been subject to consultation via a challenge process intended to allow key stakeholders an opportunity to comment and make observations before the report was finalised, ensuring that it accurately reflected the position of social services.

There was considerable evidence in the reports to show that, over the past year, the Directorate had worked effectively to fulfil the Council’s high expectations of the service and to meet the needs of service users and carers.

The reports described the formidable challenges which faced the Council – most obviously in finding ways to bridge the gap between the reducing resources available and the year-on-year growth in social care costs (resulting from demographic trends, increased citizen expectations, changing family structures and increasing numbers of people with long standing and complex disabilities). Because of the difficult financial context and increasing demands for services, the only sustainable answer for social services in the longer term was for the Council and its partners to change the pattern of services –based upon an understanding that we needed to promote independence and focus services away from institutional settings and into people’s homes and local communities.

The evidence in the reports demonstrated that the Council had good foundations upon which to build in responding to these challenges. They also showed that there was a clear direction for social services in the Vale of Glamorgan because of the way in which the Council was managing programmes of change, including the Directorate’s own three-year Change Plan.

The final reports would be circulated widely, especially the summary version. They would be made available via the Council’s website.

RECOMMENDED –

(1) T H A T the Director’s Annual Report for 2011/12, the annual report for each Head of Service in the Directorate and the summary report be noted.

(2) T H A T Cabinet be recommended to endorse the improvement priorities for the Directorate as set out in the reports.

Reasons for recommendations

(1) To ensure that Scrutiny Committee has been informed about the views expressed by the Director of Social Services and the Heads of Service regarding service effectiveness in 2010/11 and their plans for improvement.

(2) To ensure that the improvement priorities can be included in the Directorate’s Service Plan.”